Leonard schade van westeum



, UNITED STATES Patented February 16, 1904.

PATE T OFFICE.

METHOD OF MAKING ROADS OR LIKE SURFACES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 752,486, dated- February 16, 1904.

Application filed. October 28, 1903 Serial No. 178,934. (No specimena) I To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, LEONARD Sermon VAN WESTRUM, merchant, a subject of the Queen of the Netherlands, residing at 90 "Wilhelmstrasse,Berlin, German Empire, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Methods of Making Roads or Like Surfaces, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in connection with the method of forming and maintaining roads, paths, and street-surfaces, and has for its object to provide a means for binding the material together, so as to prevent the disintegration thereof and to prevent the production of dust or dirt therefrom, which generally arises on account of the trafiic of vehicles upon streets or roadways ordinarily constructed and maintained.

The ordinary macadam or like roads utilize as a binding agent for the materials employed-such as broken stone, sand, and the like-ordinary Water, with the result that the drying of the materials and the evaporation of the water loosens the material at the surface of the roadway and dust arises and is blown off. This gives rise to the formation of holes and uneven places in the road, which require heavy repairs and constant attention to keep them in a suitable condition. To solidify or bind the materials in a more permanent manner than is accomplished by Water, agents, such as crude oil and tar, have I been suggested; but on account of the inconveniences arising therefrom and on account of other difficulties inherent to the application of crude oil, tar, and the like no success has attend d t e xp riment which were made with a view to permanently bind the material together and prevent the production of dust and the consequent deterioration of the roads.

A great disadvantage to the use of mineral oils and taxi th t the same mu t be. pp to the street or road in a hot condition and under pressure, and in some cases the stones or other road-making materials must also be heated, for the reason that cold mineral oils or tar do not readily mix with sand or the like, but take the form of globules, which are mutually repulsed and do not unite to form a binding medium for the sand or other stances.

road-making materials, which soon become loosened and after a short time lose what coherency they may have originally had, the onlyremedy being to again heat the oil or tar and the road-surface, which, however, is quite impossible and not at all practical. It may be further said that in building race-tracks and the like where a spongy springy foundation isrequired to make a fast track tar and such other substances that will harden by water cannot be used for the reason that the same would tend to crack and crumble, whereas by my method of building road-beds the same yield to the weight of traflic without cracking or crumbling.

According to my invention I can apply my binding medium at the ordinary temperature and without pressure by using a suitable watering-car. Rain does not impair or at all interfere with the surface of roads treated by my method, but rather improves them, as the oils I employ are soluble in water, and they immediately take up the rain-water. This is not the case in the oil or tar treatment, as in these rain is a great disadvantage, as it percolates between the oil or tar and the road materials and tends to disintegrate them, which gives rise to the formation of dust as soon as the rain-water has evaporated from the surface of the road. In a few words, according to my improved process the materials used in making roads and the like are very efliciently held together, and all dust particles, either wet or dry, are bound together.

In carrying my invention into effect I employ as the binding agent a liquid formed by the admixture of water and an oily substance dissolved or rendered soluble in water, the solution being made preferably with seventyfive to ninety-seven per cent. of water to twenty-five to three per cent. of the oily subused with my solution, applying said solution, consisting of water and oilysubstances rendared soluble in water, to the material during the formation of the road either by admixture therewith or by sprinkling thereon during the period of constructing the road.

I do not limit application of my invention In the matter of employing a fixing agent or I mix the various materials to be permanent binding fluid to any particular method of dissolving the oil in water or rendering the same soluble therein, and I employ any process for making the solution that is to be used for mixing the materials or for applying thereto during the process of road or the like surface making.

Having thus described my'invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A method of making roads and like surfaces, consisting in broken stones, sand, dust, earthy materials and the like for forming the street-body and the like mixing the same with a solution consisting of water. and oily substances rendered soluble in water, forming a gummy and adhesive mixture by which the said materials are bound together, substantially as described and for the purpose speci- 2. A method of making roads and like surfaces, consisting in binding together the materials such as broken stones, sand,dust, earthy materials and the like used for forming the street-body, and the like with a solution consisting of Water and oily substances emulsionized with water substantially as described and for the purpose specified.

3. The method herein described of maintaining and preserving streets, and road-beds, by first saturating thestreet-body during construction with -a solution of water and oil in proportions of about ninety parts water and tenparts oil, in such manner that dust particles on the surface caused by the abrasion of travel are made to adhere to the surface of said road-beds or streets as they are ground off, whereby the diffusion of dust is prevented and the dust utilized substantially as described. In witness whereof I have hereunto signed my name, this 12th day of October, 1903, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

LEONARD SCHADE VAN WESTRUM.

Witnesses:

H. D. J AMESON, F. L. BANDS. 

